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are based.

[8] A somewhat frequent classification of the deaf in respect to their power to speak is to regard them roughly as falling into three great divisions: 1. "Deaf-mutes," who come nearest to being deaf and dumb. They have always been deaf, and have never had natural speech. What speech they may possess has come from special instruction, with the result that it is more or less artificial. 2. "Semi-mutes," who are deaf, but who have once had hearing as well as speech; and this speech they are able to use to a greater or less degree, though in time it is likely to become more and more astray. 3. "Semi-deaf" persons, who are only partly deaf, and possess a little hearing, though it is too slight to be of real practical use; and who have voices most nearly approaching the normal. They belong somewhere between the really deaf and the hard of hearing.

[9] Special Reports, pp. 82, 240.

[10] Ibid., pp. 87, 240. For 8,966 no returns were made.

[11] On the subject of lip-reading, see especially E. B. Nitchie, "Lip-Reading: its Principles and Practice", 1912.

[12] This "sign language" is referred to at somewhat more length in Chapter XIX.

[13] Sometimes called "the deaf and dumb alphabet".

[14] Special Reports, pp. 89, 240. For 2,365 no returns were made.

CHAPTER II

       Table of Contents

THE DEAF AS A PERMANENT ELEMENT OF THE POPULATION

       Table of Contents

      Increase in the Number of the Deaf in Relation to the Increase in the General Population

      Are the deaf to be a permanent element in the constitution of the population? Are they always to be reckoned with in the life of the state and the regard of society? Would it not be well to inquire whether or not deafness may be eliminated, or at least reduced to an appreciable degree? These are questions that present themselves at the outset in a consideration of the relation of the deaf to society, and to them we now devote our attention.

      Our first inquiry in the matter is directed to the question whether deafness as a whole is increasing, decreasing or remaining stationary, in relation to the general population. To determine this, we have recourse to the census returns of the deaf in connection with those of the general population. Unfortunately, however, comparisons of the different censuses respecting the deaf are not altogether to be depended upon, for the reason that they have not always been taken on the same basis, and conclusions from them consequently have to be accepted with qualifications. Special census returns of the deaf have been made since 1830; but the censuses of 1830–1870 purport to be of the deaf and dumb; the census of 1880, of the deaf who became deaf under sixteen years of age; that of 1890, of the deaf and dumb; that of 1900, of the totally deaf; and that of 1910, of the deaf and dumb. The results thus obtained are in the main analogous, but there are a certain number of cases included on one basis that would be excluded on another, and vice versa.[15]

      Taking the statistics as they are, we have the following table,[16] which gives the number of the deaf as found in the several censuses, according to the bases upon which they were made, together with the ratio per million of population.

      NUMBER OF THE DEAF ACCORDING TO THE CENSUSES OF 1830–1910

Year	Number	No. per Million of Population
1830 (the deaf and dumb)	6,106	475
1840 (the deaf and dumb)	7,665	449
1850 (the deaf and dumb)	9,803	423
1860 (the deaf and dumb)	12,821	408
1870 (the deaf and dumb)	16,205	420
1880 (deafness occurring under sixteen)	33,878	675
1890 (the deaf and dumb)	40,592	648
1900 (the totally deaf)	37,426	492
1910 (the deaf and dumb)	43,812	476

      From this table there appears to be a steady decrease in the number of the deaf in relation to the general population from 1830 to 1860, this latter year seeming to be the low water mark. From 1860 to 1870 there is a slight increase, and from 1870 to 1880 a very large one, due to some extent to the method of taking the census. From 1880 to 1890 there is a certain decrease, though the proportion is still very high. From 1890 to 1900 there is a very considerable decrease, probably indicating a return to true conditions; and a not negligible decrease from 1900 to 1910.

      On the whole, with respect to these statistics, probably the most that we can safely say is that deafness is at least not on the increase relatively among the population, while there is a possibility that at present it is decreasing. For further determinations, we shall have to seek other means of inquiry.

      The Adventitiously Deaf and the Congenitally Deaf

      We may perhaps best approach the problem of deafness as an increasing or decreasing phenomenon in the population, if we think of the deaf as composed of two great classes: those adventitiously deaf, that is, those who have lost their hearing by some disease or accident occurring after birth, and those congenitally deaf, that is, those who have never had hearing.[17] In regard to the former class, it follows that we are largely interested in the consideration of those diseases, especially those of childhood, which may affect the hearing, and in their prevention or diminution we can endeavor to ascertain how far there are possibilities of reducing the number of the deaf of this class. In the latter case we are called upon to examine some of the great problems involved in the study of heredity, especially in respect to the extent that the offspring is affected by defects or abnormalities of the parent, and to see what, if any, means are at hand to alter conditions that bring about this form of deafness. We shall first discuss the causes of adventitious deafness, together with the possibilities of its prevention and the likelihood of its diminution, and then consider the questions involved in congenital deafness.

      Adventitious Deafness and its Causes

      From three-fifths to two-thirds of the cases of deafness are caused adventitiously—by

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